Aleph
Psalm 119:1a
“Blessed…”
Blessed or happy are people that are in a state of bliss. How does one get to this state of bliss - Is it from having much material gain and riches, or popularity and politics; does it come from escapism, or does it come from intelligential reasoning; does happiness come from pleasuring ones self by granting every whim and desire, or does it come from avoiding all kinds of pain?
For the disciple of Christ, their blessedness comes from above and around, by and from the hand of God. Not by circumstance or fortunes, but from above, given by God to the disciple, available at any time, by His grace and His love trough His infinite resources. The blessedness of the disciple is around and about the disciple. The pursuit of God and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit brings the disciples to the throne of God, giving us access to the Kingdom of Heaven, sending us down the path of righteousness filling us with all the wonderful attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, filling us with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance. (Gal. 5:22, 23 KJV)
This blessed filling is particularly necessarily in times of hardship, and available to all of God's children (especially, including the less fortunate). When Christ preached, he preached the Kingdom of Heaven to the beggars (those who are totally deprived of spirit and robbed of life), those who grieve deeply in their souls, simple people, people who are starving and thirsting for justice. He preached to people who are compassionate, people who know the painful sting of great loss, people who were made clean in their souls because of their own fiery trials; sick of seeing hurt, they make every desire to solve social and political problems quickly. And yes, He preached to the persecuted - those who love their Lord with the depths of their souls in the face of persecution and rejection from their fellow mankind. He told them that they were blessed.
Yes, blessed indeed, even though the down trodden disciple might feel dejected, he is not alone. He is in good company. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (NASB - Matt .5:12) ” And God is with us always, yes, the God who created the heavens and the earth has more precious thoughts for us than the amount of sand in the sea, more than the stars in the sky. He thinks pleasant thoughts for His servants and has good plans for their lives. We may feel down and rejected at times like the writer of the 119 Psalm might have been, about whom Alan Ross, professor of Old Testament Studies has noted,
Was persecuted by men of rank and authority, who ridiculed his beliefs, seeking to put him to shame and make him give up his faith. But he strengthened himself by meditating on the Word of the Lord, which to him was his comfort, his prize possession, his rule of life, and his resource for strength - all of which drove him to desire it even more. 1
Let us then, with the Psalmist, join together in the pursuit of God through His word, to strengthen our souls. Let us come to the source of our strength, the source and joy of our salvation. As we think of Him, as we thank Him, as we remember the truth of who he is and what he has done; to always remember his promises for our future, those of love and hope. Blessed we are, let us not grow weary of doing the good and fruitful work of the disciple of Christ, even through the fiery trials.
1. Allen P. Ross, Bible Knowledge Commentary, The , p.879, SP Publications, Inc., 1985
